Two Louisiana teen-agers suspects in killing of Whooping Cranes in reintroduction area

By Rex Graham

Two whooping cranes — the most endangered of all of the world’s crane species — have been shot and killed near the Jennings, Louisiana, according to the he Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). Agents have identified two juveniles for their alleged role in the illegal shooting of the cranes, which were part of a non-migratory, experimental population in Jefferson Davis Parish.

According to an eyewitness account, two juveniles stopped on Lyons Road between Mouton and Guidry roads south of Jennings at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, and shot from their truck, killing the whooping cranes.

Adam Einck, spokesman for the LDWF’s enforcement division, told the Associated Press that two boys, ages 16 and 13, have been told they are suspects based on witness’s description of a truck and other information.

In this video, Patuxent Scientist John B. French describes the contribution of the Crane program at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to the restoration of a migratory flock of whooping cranes in the eastern United States.
Videographer: Hannah Hamilton (USGS)

“Losing two cranes, especially in such a thoughtless manner, is a huge setback in the department’s efforts to re-establish a whooping crane population in Louisiana,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “We take this careless crime very seriously.”

LDWF received 10 whooping cranes (Grus americana)

in February from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Research Facility in Laurel, Md., and placed them in the coastal marsh of Vermilion Parish within LDWF’s White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area (WCA).

Only five of the cranes are still alive. LDWF spokesman Bo Boehringer said in an email to the Associated Press that one bird disappeared in June around St. Martinville and is presumed dead. Another flew about 80 miles to Morganza, where evidence indicates a predator ate it, and another bird with a lung infection was euthanized. Satellite transmitters have located four recently and one is currently unaccounted for, Boehringer said.

This re-introduced population, which will be joined by other cranes in the future, marked the first presence of whooping cranes in the wild in Louisiana since 1950.

LDWF is working cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), USGS, the International Crane Foundation and the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit to bring the species back to Louisiana. This non-migratory flock of whooping cranes is designated as a non-essential, experimental population and is protected under state law and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

“This is a profound setback to the many people and organizations who have worked so hard to bring this magnificent bird back to Louisiana,” said Cindy Dohner, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Whooping cranes were first added to the federal status of an endangered species on March 11, 1967. The reintroduction at White Lake WCA is part of an ongoing recovery effort coordinated by the USFWS.

Historically, both a resident and migratory population of whooping cranes were present in Louisiana through the early 1940s. Whooping cranes inhabited the marshes and ridges of the state’s southwest Chenier Coastal Plain, as well as the uplands of prairie terrace habitat to the north. Within this area, whooping cranes used three major habitats: tall grass prairie, freshwater marsh, and brackish/salt marsh. The Louisiana crane population was not able to withstand the pressure of human encroachment, primarily the conversion of nesting habitat to agricultural acreage, as well as hunting and specimen collection, which also occurred across North America. The last bird in southwest Louisiana was removed to a sanctuary in 1950.

The only self-sustaining wild population of whooping cranes migrates between Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Like those in the eastern migratory population, it remains vulnerable to extinction from continued loss of habitat or natural or man-made catastrophes. Multiple efforts are underway to reduce this risk and bring this bird further along its path to recovery. This includes increasing populations in the wild, ongoing efforts to establish a migratory population in the eastern United States, and establishing a resident population in Louisiana.

There are about 570 whooping cranes left in the world, including only 400 in the wild. About 100 cranes are in the eastern migratory population.

For the 11th time in as many years, ultralight-led captive reared whooping cranes are learning their migration route to wintering sites in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Ten young whooping cranes began their journey on Oct. 9, 2011.

RELATED LINKS:

Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership
Whooping Cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

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